


A Hug Can Fix Anything

by red_jaebyrd



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Batbrothers (DCU) Bonding, Batfamily (DCU) Feels, Brain Injury Recovery, Damian Wayne Has a Heart, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Protective Damian Wayne, Ric Grayson does not exist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:01:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23071378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/red_jaebyrd/pseuds/red_jaebyrd
Summary: Damian finds Dick just as he discovers the truth about the incident at Sanctuary. Can a hug really fix anything? Damian’s not sure, but what do you do when the family’s designated hugger is in need of a hug?Night Visitors 'verse side fic. Takes place in the middle of 'High Hopes'.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne
Comments: 6
Kudos: 101





	A Hug Can Fix Anything

**Author's Note:**

> This fic takes place in my Night Visitors 'verse. It's not necessary to read that first, but just know that Dick in this fic is four months out of the hospital post gun shot injury. His memories are intact and he's been living in the Manor for the last four months.
> 
> The incident at Sanctuary alludes to the events that took place in Heroes in Crisis.
> 
> Thank you Emma for the prompt 'snuggle' that inspired this fic.
> 
> **Warning: mention of character death**

It had been four months since Dick had been discharged from the hospital and had moved back into the Manor. Damian had been relieved when his Father had been adamant that Dick be close and in familiar surroundings. Dick hadn’t protested the change, in fact he seemed relieved to be back at the Manor and in his old room.

Damian liked his company, though he was a little perturbed that Drake and Todd had moved back in as well. At least Todd kept stressing his presence was only temporary, Drake didn’t look like he was going anywhere. Not that Damian was counting, but both had now been living in the Manor for approximately 123 days.

The only convenience to having Todd at the Manor was his arrangement with Father to stay with Richard when the three of them went out on patrol. Not that Dick needed a babysitter, it was more for keeping him busy and Todd out of Gotham’s streets.

Damian noticed that although Dick did get many visitors, most of them were not Dick’s teammates. The only former teammate to come see him was Victor. He wondered if Father had something to do with the Titans staying away. Father did have a reputation for not allowing metahumans in Gotham, but Damian wondered if their absence had more to do with the recent incident at Sanctuary. Damian figured it could be a bit of both.

He’d have to talk to Father about at least allowing Donna Troy or Raven to come see Dick. Damian didn’t want to be the one to tell Richard about West and Harper, but he would if it meant Dick not figuring it out himself.

* * *

“Richard, Alfred has sent me to fetch you for dinner. Richard?”

“No, no, no, no.”

Damian peered into the newly occupied room and saw Dick sitting cross legged on the floor. Old newspapers and magazines scattered around him as well as a laptop opened in front of him.

“Richard, did you hear me? It’s time for dinner.”

But Dick didn’t answer him. Instead he kept staring at a particularly upsetting news webpage. Damian walked over to see what had upset Dick and there it was, in huge print:

**Tragedy at Sanctuary**

Damian read ahead and could already see that Dick just read the names of the deceased as well as the person responsible for the killings.

_Shit._

“I don’t understand? What the hell happened? Why didn’t anyone tell me? I knew Wally was having a bit of a hard time since he got back, but I thought things were improving. I thought he was getting better. How…how could he do this to all these people…to Roy? No. NO!” Dick blurted, tears flowing down his face. He wrapped his arms around himself shaking his head and whispering. “I should’ve been there. I should’ve been there.”

Upon hearing Dick’s distress Ace quickly made his way from his perch on the window seat onto Dick’s lap, but Dick didn’t seem to notice. Ace kept whining and nosing Dick’s arms, but Dick kept his arms firmly wrapped around himself.

Damian was speechless. He had never seen Dick so upset and unhinged. While this behavior was understandable, given the sensitive information coupled with the circumstances of his brain injury, it was still unsettling to see his older brother so distressed and agitated.

This was out of Damian’s scope. Admittedly he wasn’t very good at giving comfort. Dick had always been the designated comforter among his brothers, that had always been Dick’s job. Dick was the hugger, the one who longed for physical touch and in turn dispersed his hugs to the rest of the family with reckless abandon. Damian wasn’t one for physical touch, but when it came to Dick he endured it and eventually resigned himself to accept that part of his brother’s love language.

Damian decided it was best to clear the mess of the newspapers first, that he could do for Dick. He started gathering the newspapers organizing them by date and publication. Then he organized the magazines. Once the piles were neatly stacked on the desk, he shut the laptop and placed it gingerly on the desk next to the stacks.

He glanced at Dick, who was now staring somewhere off to the side of the room. Eyes unfocused, tears silently flowing, arms still tightly wrapped around himself and rocking back and forth. Ace had given up trying to get Dick to pet him and settled for laying his head in Dick’s lap. As Damian drew closer to him he could softly hear, ‘I should’ve been there. I could’ve done something, I should’ve been there. I could’ve done something.’

Damian approached with caution not knowing if touch would hurt or help. He figured with the way Dick was hugging himself, it was possible that touch was the very thing he needed right now. He gently moved Ace out of the way and knelt down in front of Dick. He gingerly placed his hand Dick’s shoulder. Immediately the rocking stopped, but Dick was still staring off to the side. Damian then awkwardly placed his arms around Dick’s neck in a hug. He could feel the rigidness in Dick’s whole body loosened at the contact. Dick’s arms slowly unraveled and wrapped around Damian returning the embrace.

He could feel Dick’s body tremble as the sobs returned. Damian rubbed soft circles along Dick’s back just like Dick used to do with him.

Dick whispered in his ear. “I-I should’ve b-been there. I c-could’ve done s-something.”

“No, Richard. There’s nothing you could have done.”

“You don’t know that! Wally’s my best friend and I wasn’t there for him.”

“Because you had sustained a gunshot wound to the head, Richard,” Damian reasoned. “You were still recovering from your injuries.”

Damian only knew to cling to the logical, to facts. It’s what had helped to ground him and shape him into the person his mother groomed him to be. While he walked away from the assassin mentality, he still struggled at times with empathy. It wasn’t a character trait that he was encouraged to have in The League. It was by all accounts a weakness, a flaw to exploit, or in his mother’s case expunge from him with more training and fierce discipline.

It’s not that he wasn’t able to empathize with others hurts and disappointments. Far from it, it was now something that he was encouraged to do since coming to the Manor. He learned from Dick that empathy was a vital part of what made Robin’s presence important to helping people in need. However, logic and facts were tangible and therefore the first instinctual traits he relied on in situations such as this one.

Right now the circumstances were simple, Dick had been gravely injured the same time as the tragedy at Sanctuary. Logically, there was nothing he could have done for either West or Harper. Damian knew that somewhere deep inside Dick’s head, he had to have known this to be true. Also had Dick been there at Sanctuary, he could have been a victim as well.

But Dick wasn’t listening to any of it. He was fixated on the fact that he wasn’t there for West or Harper and that he could have done something to save both of them. Damian realized appealing to Dick’s logical side was useless. What he needed right now empathy. He needed the freedom to voice his hurt without judgement or advice. He needed the time to grieve without the pressure of a timeline.

“I’m sorry about your friends, Richard. Harper was an exceptional archer even if his methods of crimefighting were unorthodox. West was…” Damian consoled, still rubbing circles on Dick’s back. “…I never really got to know West, that well.”

“Oh God,” Dick replied, breaking the embrace and wiping his tears with his sleeve. “Jason. How’s Jason doing with all of this…with Roy? I know they were close too. Is he okay?”

Damian shrugged. “I know Father was the one that had told him of Harper’s death. However, I am unsure how he is coping with the news.”

Dick nodded and rubbed his face harshly. “I don’t understand how Wally could do this?”

There was no right answer to give. None that Dick would accept. It was likely more rhetorical than anything, but Damian felt he needed an answer.

“I don’t think he meant to do it.” Damian reassured. “Father said by all accounts it looked like an accident.”

Dick sighed. “This just makes me more pissed about getting shot.”

Damian knew Dick had every right to still be pissed about his injury. Four months post injury and he was still struggling with dizziness and balance, not to mention blackouts. Dick never told jokes anymore. Damian had a feeling he still struggled with memory.

“Me too. I’m truly sorry you had to find out like this, Richard.”

“Thanks.” Dick said, reaching over to give Damian a hug. “Why don’t you go down to dinner. Tell Alfred I’ll be down in a while.”

“Are you sure?” Damian asked, breaking the embrace. “I don’t mind staying with you.”

“I’ll be fine. I think I need to be alone for a bit. Don’t worry, I have Ace with me.”

Damian stood up and headed for the door, still unsure about leaving Dick alone with his thoughts. But at the same time he knew that Dick likely needed time alone to process.

“Understood,” Damian acknowledged, almost out the door.

“And Lil D, thanks for the hug. It meant a lot to me. I know you’re not very fond of them.”

Damian ran to Dick and threw his arms around his waist.

“On the contrary, Richard. I like them when they’re from you, and besides you always say that a hug can fix anything.”


End file.
